Needed to make three stops this morning before work. Music book store, brunch at New York Bagel Café, and the dollar store. Luckily Don was working from home so I was able to take the bike and leave Dexter at home.
An update on biking with/without the baby. I actually have a lot of exasperated feelings about the North American attitude in particular when it comes to biking with children. They don't make helmets for infants. The smallest helmet is for a kid who is basically a year old. There are trailers, but they don't recommend a child rides in the back of one until they are a year old. I'm not sure if this is just a recommendation or if it's illegal. I bought a special bumper thing for Dexter and he seems quite secure in it. Now we're just waiting for his head to get a bit less wobbly. I've been using it as a stroller and he seems comfortable. I'm just not sure if he's going to experience some kind of baby whiplash if we're traveling at a higher speed and hitting bumps.
You can put a car seat in a cargo trailer but you have to secure the base of the car seat somehow. Then the car seat goes into the base. There aren't a great selection of cargo bikes in general. And the little kid seats are still for children who can sit up by themselves and wear a helmet. I am frustrated that there don't seem to be a lot of things, if anything at all, on the market that helps new moms bike with their infants. And no, I don't mean a 1 year old "infant." I mean an ACTUAL new baby. I'm also frustrated that we live in a sort of cultural climate where items like this aren't important.
Don't even get me started about having a way to transport the baby by bike that looks good.
So moms can't bike with their kids until a year after their babies are born. Doesn't that seem sort of ridiculous? Particularly when there are countless things on the market that help mothers with every other aspect of parenting... some of which are not even that practical!
Anyway, Dexter is getting pretty sturdy so I plan to try it soon. We'll take the residential way (not a lot of traffic, but still quite bumpy with these Edmonton roads and mature neighbourhoods). I just want to be able to get to the grocery store and back. With Dexter. Without taking the bus or the car. I really don't think that's too much to ask. And no, I don't want to wait until next summer. By then I might be pregnant again. I'll be getting the painfully incredulous comments about biking with Dexter AND biking while pregnant.
I also want to try all of this before it snows. Now ends ranting about baby and bikes.
Back to this morning! Went on my run with the Pashley and had delicious eggs benedict.
I got the checkered dress at ModCloth. I had to guesstimate my size and ended up getting it a tad too big. No matter because I'd rather it be a bit roomy than too tight. It's definitely fall and I needed to wear a sweater anyway. It was windy. My hair is everywhere.
And here's Dexter back at home under the tender loving care of his dad.
Somebody told me that Dexter is too skinny. Really? He eats all the time and has two chins. Go figure!
21 comments:
That green sweater really pops. You look good in green!
Dexter looks just fine weight-wise. I think that people sometimes just like to comment and give advice for the sake of it. And a woman with a newborn is a prime candidate for that sort of thing.
That situation is very frustrating. I wonder what they do in the Netherlands. Maybe just a car seat in a bakfiets?
I love the outfit, especially the gray shoes. I've been hearing a lot about ModCloth lately; I think I'll finally go and check it out.
here's a link to an article about why there aren't bicycle helmets for children under 1 year of age - the potential hazards (brain injury etc due to vibration or simply from the head not being able to support a helmet) are not fully known, so injury-prevention people recommend infants <12 months old do not travel on bikes, in bike trailers, etc. (I was doing my own research recently as to when my 3 month old could try the bike trailer...)
We're working on doing some experiments and gathering some data on the kinds of vibrations babies are subjected to (in slings, strollers, car seats, etc) and comparing them to the kinds of vibrations that happen on a bike. Because lots of folks (like anon, above) talk about how the problem with infants on bikes is vibration, but no one seems to have any data to compare bike vibrations to. And I'm not convinced that the bumps of daily life are any more substantial than the bumps experienced by a well-padded baby on a bike. But there are advantages to being married to a scientist. We'll do some looking around and let you know-- probably not in time for Dexter, but maybe for the next one. :)
Wow LOVE that outfit Sarah - I just jumped on ModCloth's site and am hooked, and better yet - they ship to OZ!
Regarding your comment about 'painfully incredulous comments' about biking with Dexter and biking while pregnant.
A pregnant woman needs to be active during pregnancy to help reduce complications during delivery. Sadly our society is still of the mind that being pregnant equals illness. It does not, pregancy and activity go hand in hand.
As for biking with Dexter, why not as long as he is safe go for it.
Please don't listen to everyone with an opinion do what feels right for you and your family.
I've seen the most irritating, inflammatory stuff about biking with kids. One comment on a discussion about how early one should bike with kids was that it is "as early as you're ready for them to crash." If that's the case, do drivers take that into account when bringing a baby in a car? I would say the comment is equally applicable for motorised vehicles.
I love that Dexter is looking at Don like, "What the heck are you doing?" (and I think he's exactly Dexter-sized and perfect).
Good luck in figuring out a solution for biking with him. I really believe everyone should be encouraged to ride rather than discouraged.
On second thought, maybe Dexter's look says, "Man you're tall!" :)
As Dottie wondered how they do this in the Netherlands, look here: http://www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl/2009/01/20/test-carrying-a-newborn-on-a-bike
If haven't already, check out totcycle's family biking ages and stages.
http://totcycle.com/blog/family-biking-ages-stages.html
Hi Sarah,
Not strictly related to this post but just wanted to say how much I enjoy your blog. There is something so odd about knowing lots about someone so far away (I'm in London) but you have such a cool family - and I'm including Dougal here - that I love to keep up with what's going on with you. If you have any interest in afternoon tea check out my blog and see what you think. http://afternoonteatotal.com
i am due in Nov with my first baby and am an avid cyclist still commuting around boston via bike. the streets of boston are probably in worse shape than edmonton because it isn't what one would consider bike friendly. i only know of one street in boston proper that has a designated bike lane. but we are very careful & know the best ways to go for the smoothest ride. my partner and i bought a gazelle cabby which has adaptive hardware for the maxi cosi car seat. we intend to use it as soon as possible with our infant-to-be (very judiciously, of course) for errands and short trips. ideally, we'd like to bring the baby home after labor from the birth center but don't know if we can get away with that. we don't own a car & are committed to keeping it that way. we're not crazy about using the T either so we're gonna keep on riding.
lucite,
I'll have to check out that gazelle - it sounds fab!
As for riding home from the hospital, I wouldn't push yourself. Not because you'll be all weak or whatever, but just because your lady parts are going to have gone through some serious procedures. The last thing you want to do is inflict further trauma on aforementioned lady parts. Take care to heal well the first week or so, then you'll be out of the gate!
Even with me, I was so active before delivery. I found it hard just to laugh the 2-3 days after delivery. You will be very acute to how all your skin is 1 huge interconnected piece. Nothing moves in one place without causing tension somewhere else.
So relax for the first little while and make sure you're feeling 100%! I felt like I could bike 3-4 weeks after delivery but decided to see my doctor for the post 6 week checkup just to confirm everything was tip top:)
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and with delivery! Keep me updated!
S*
you are the master of combining black, white and green in such a chic effortless lovely way.
and oh you boy is sooo adorable, look at those cheeks. he rolls with good company, love his robot bodyguard... ;)
xo.meli
I don't know if you've seen theses posts, but there are other families out there who bike with infants.
Here's one by trailer:
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-transport-infant-by-bike.html
Cargo bike:
http://totcycle.com/blog/diy-infant-seat-on-a-madsen.html
And another:
http://longwalktogreen.blogspot.com/2009/08/car-free-pregnant-and-with-infant.html
Good luck- I don't have kids, but still believe that we can safely and healthily transport babies and children by bike. I love your blog!
What did the frontier women do about traveling across the continent in covered wagon with their infants? I would imagine the ride was considerably more bumpy than anything you would cross today. I agree with Dottie, though, the Dutch probably already have come up with a solution to this.
i wasn't planning on riding my bike home right after the birth. we were considering having me sit in the cargo hold of the gazelle while i hold the baby & have my partner pedal. i'm 99.99% certain the birth center will not allow us to do that. i definitely want to allow my lady parts to recover postpartum. i will be taking about 3 months off from work. partner has started using the gazelle (http://www.gazellebicycles.us) now for groceries & transport of large items. it's a two-wheeled cargo bike which is great because it handles like any other bike and corners really well. i can't wait to try it with the infant seat and later when the kid is older they can sit on the cushioned seat. check out
http://www.gazelle.nl/nl/collectie/speciaal-voor/fietsen-met-kinderen/cabby.html & click on "bekijk de film" to see what it looks like.
thanks for the well wishes.
Lucite!
Sounds like a plan! In that case, I think you should totally be able to go home in the cargo:) Just bring some soft blankets/towels so you're comfy and you'll just have to be careful getting in and out, but that's no different than having to climb into the weird bucket seat of a car (in fact, might be easier).
I'm so excited for you! Don and I put Dexter in the trailer yesterday and it was... okay. When the roads are totally flat he's fine, and he even seemed okay when it was bumpy but I wasn't going fast at all. I think we're going to get a madsen. Mostly because there's no dutch cargo bikes anywhere near where I live. I think the closest is a bakfiets in Vancouver or a nihola in Toronto. Although they look wonderful they're also really expensive! I think a Madsen will suit our needs very well and if we're not happy with it, we can trade up later. We'll just stick Dexter's car seat in the bucket and call it a day. Tada!
Don't you have dreams of rolling up to your kid's school with the little dude(s) are in the cargo? Then all the other moms will maybe think, "geez, I should stop driving everywhere, and also idling excessively!"
S*
I was far too nervous to ride with either of my kids until they were about 8 months old and able to go in a child seat so I'm not qualified to comment, but if you were keen to do it why not try wearing a Baby Bjorn front sling? It has head support and if you ride an upright bike it should be comfy for you both.
I was out riding the other day with my 2 year old daughter in her seat (wearing helmet and seat belt) and an entire extended family of barefoot scooter-riding mums and duaghters shrieked at me for doing something so dangerous. I had to laugh.
Me again. Look at http://www.candycranks.com/ and scroll way down for a post by a mum who rode with her little baby in a sling.
Post a Comment